$OTEX Risk Factor changes from 00/08/03/23/2023 to 00/08/01/24/2024

Item 1A. Risk Factors The following important factors could cause our actual business and financial results to differ materially from our current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections.

These forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K or made elsewhere by management from time to time are subject to important risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only risks and uncertainties facing us. Additional risks not currently known to us or that we currently believe are immaterial may also impair our operating results, financial condition and liquidity. Our business is also subject to general risks and uncertainties that affect many other companies. The risks discussed below are not necessarily presented in order of importance or probability of occurrence.

You should read these risk factors in conjunction with the section entitled “Forward-Looking Statements” in Part I of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and our consolidated financial statements and related notes in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.Risks Related to our Business and IndustryIf we do not continue to develop technologically advanced products that successfully integrate with the software products and enhancements used by our customers, future revenues and our operating results may be negatively affectedOur success depends upon our ability to design, develop, test, market, license, sell and support new software products and services and enhancements of current products and services on a timely basis in response to both competitive threats and marketplace demands. The software industry is increasingly focused on cloud computing, mobility, social media, SaaS and artificial intelligence, among other continually evolving shifts. In addition, our software products, services and enhancements must remain compatible with standard platforms and file formats. Often, we must integrate software licensed or acquired from third parties with our proprietary software to create new products or improve our existing products. If we are unable to achieve a successful integration with third party software, we may not be successful in developing and marketing our new software products, services and enhancements. If we are unable to successfully integrate third party software to develop new software products, services and enhancements to existing software products and services, or to complete the development of new software products and services which we license or acquire from third parties, our operating results will be materially adversely affected. In addition, if the integrated or new products or enhancements do not achieve acceptance by the marketplace, our operating results will be materially adversely affected. Moreover, if new industry standards emerge that we do not anticipate or adapt to, or, if alternatives to our services and solutions are developed by our competitors in times of rapid technological change, our software products and services could be rendered less competitive or obsolete, causing us to lose market share and, as a result, harm our business and operating results and our ability to compete in the marketplace.Product development is a long, expensive and uncertain process, and we may terminate one or more of our development programsWe may determine that certain software product candidates or programs do not have sufficient potential to warrant the continued allocation of resources. Accordingly, we may elect to terminate one or more of our programs for such product candidates. If we terminate a software product in development in which we have invested significant resources, our prospects may suffer, as we will have expended resources on a project that does not provide a return on our investment, and may have missed the opportunity to have allocated those resources to potentially more productive uses, which may negatively impact our business, operating results and financial condition.Our investment in our current research and development efforts may not provide a sufficient or timely returnThe development of information management software products is a costly, complex and time-consuming process, and the investment in information management software product development often involves a long wait until a return is achieved on such an investment. We are making, and will continue to make, significant investments in software research and development and related product and service opportunities. Investments in new technology and processes are inherently speculative. Accelerated software product introductions and short product life cycles require high levels of expenditures for research and development and the potential introduction of government regulation, including that related to the use of AI, may increase the costs of research and development as well as compliance with such regulation. These expenditures may adversely affect our operating results if they are not offset by corresponding revenue increases. We believe that we must continue to dedicate a significant amount of resources to our research and development efforts in order to maintain our competitive position. However, significant revenues from new software product and service investments may not be achieved for a number of years, if at all.If our software products and services do not gain market acceptance, our operating results may be negatively affectedWe intend to pursue our strategy of being a market leading consolidator for cloud-based information management solutions. We intend to grow the capabilities of our information management software offerings through our proprietary research and the development of new software product and service offerings, as well as through acquisitions. It is important to our success that we continue to enhance our software products and services in response to customer demand and to seek to set the standard for information management capabilities. The primary market for our software products and services is rapidly evolving, and the level of acceptance of products and services that have been released recently, or that are planned for future release to the marketplace, is not certain. If the markets for our software products and services fail to develop, develop more slowly than expected or become subject to increased competition, our business may suffer. As a result, we may be unable to: (i) successfully market our current products and services; (ii) develop new software products and services and enhancements to current software products and services; (iii) complete customer implementations on a timely basis; or (iv) complete software products and services currently under development. In addition, increased competition and transitioning from perpetual license sales to subscription-based business model could put significant pricing pressures on our products, which could negatively impact our margins and profitability. If our software products and services are not accepted by our customers or by other businesses in the marketplace, our business, operating results and financial condition will be materially adversely affected.Failure to protect our intellectual property could harm our ability to compete effectivelyWe are highly dependent on our ability to protect our proprietary technology. We rely on a combination of copyright, patent, trademark and trade secret laws, as well as non-disclosure agreements and other contractual provisions, to establish and maintain our proprietary rights. We intend to protect our intellectual property rights vigorously; however, there can be no assurance that these measures will, in all cases, be successful, and these measures can be costly and/or subject us to counterclaims, including challenges to the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. Enforcement of our intellectual property rights may be difficult, particularly in some countries outside of North America in which we seek to market our software products and services. While Canadian and U.S. copyright laws, international conventions and international treaties may provide meaningful protection against unauthorized duplication of software, the laws of some foreign jurisdictions may not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of Canada or the United States. The absence of internationally harmonized intellectual property laws makes it more difficult to ensure consistent protection of our proprietary rights. Additionally, the laws and enforcement mechanisms to protect our intellectual property from unauthorized use in new technologies like AI and other machine learning technology are evolving and may be inadequate. Software piracy has been, and is expected to be, a persistent problem for the software industry, and piracy of our software products represents a loss of revenue to us. Where applicable, certain of our license arrangements have required us to make a limited confidential disclosure of portions of the source code for our software products, or to place such source code into escrow for the protection of another party. Despite the precautions we have taken, unauthorized third parties, including our competitors, may be able to copy certain portions of our software products or reverse engineer or obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. Our competitive position may be adversely affected by our possible inability to effectively protect our intellectual property. In addition, certain of our products contain open source software. Licensees of open source software may be required to make public certain source code, to license proprietary software for free or to permit others to create derivative works of proprietary software. While we monitor and control the use of open source software in our products and in any third party software that is incorporated into our products, and try to ensure that no open source software is used in such a way that negatively affects our proprietary software, there can be no guarantee that such use does not occur inadvertently, which in turn, could harm our intellectual property position and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Further, any undetected errors or defects in open source software could prevent the deployment or impair the functionality of our software products, delay the introduction of new solutions, or render our software more vulnerable to breaches or security attacks. Although most of our technology is proprietary in nature, we do include certain third party and open source software in our software products. In the case of third-party software, we believe this software is licensed from the entity holding the intellectual property rights. While we believe that we have secured proper licenses for all material third-party intellectual property that is integrated into our products in a manner that requires a license, third parties have and may continue to assert infringement claims against us in the future. Any such assertion, regardless of merit, may result in litigation or require us to obtain a license for the intellectual property rights of third parties. In addition, as we continue to develop software products and expand our portfolio using new technology and innovation, our exposure to threats of infringement may increase. Any infringement claims and related litigation could be time-consuming and disruptive to our ability to generate revenues or enter into new market opportunities and may result in significantly increased costs as a result of our defense against those claims or our attempt to license the intellectual property rights or rework our products to avoid infringement of third-party rights. Any of the foregoing infringement claims and related litigation could have a material adverse impact on our business and operating results as well as on our ability to generate future revenues and profits.Our software products and services may contain defects that could harm our reputation, be costly to correct, delay revenues and expose us to litigationOur software products and services are highly complex and sophisticated and, from time to time, may contain design defects, software errors, hardware failures or other computer system failures that are difficult to detect and correct. Errors, defects and/or other failures may be found in new software products or services or improvements to existing products or services after delivery to our customers, including as a result of the introduction of new and emerging technologies such as AI. If these defects, errors and/or other failures are discovered, we may not be able to successfully correct them in a timely manner. In addition, despite the extensive tests we conduct on all our software products or services, we may not be able to fully simulate the environment in which our products or services will operate and, as a result, we may be unable to adequately detect the design defects or software or hardware errors that may become apparent only after the products are installed in an end-user’s network, and only after users have transitioned to our services. The occurrence of errors, defects and/or other failures in our software products or services could result in the delay or the denial of market acceptance of our products and alleviating such errors, defects and/or other failures may require us to make significant expenditure of our resources. Customers often use our services and solutions for critical business processes and, as a result, any defect or disruption in our solutions, any data breaches or misappropriation of proprietary information or any error in execution, including human error or intentional third-party activity such as denial of service attacks or hacking, may cause customers to reconsider renewing their contracts with us. The errors in or failure of our software products and services could also result in us losing customer transaction documents and other customer files, causing significant customer dissatisfaction and possibly giving rise to claims for monetary damages. The harm to our reputation resulting from product and service errors, defects and/or other failures may be material. Since we regularly provide a warranty with our software products, the financial impact of fulfilling warranty obligations may be significant in the future. Our agreements with our strategic partners and end-users typically contain provisions designed to limit our exposure to claims. These agreements regularly contain terms such as the exclusion of all implied warranties and the limitation of the availability of consequential or incidental damages. However, such provisions may not effectively protect us against claims and the attendant liabilities and costs associated with such claims. Any claims for actual or alleged losses to our customers’ businesses may require us to spend significant time and money in litigation or arbitration or to pay significant sums in settlements or damages. Defending a lawsuit, regardless of merit, can be costly and would divert management’s attention and resources. Although we maintain errors and omissions insurance coverage and comprehensive liability insurance coverage, such coverage may not be adequate to cover all such claims. Accordingly, any such claim could negatively affect our business, operating results or financial condition.Our software products rely on the stability of infrastructure software that, if not stable, could negatively impact the effectiveness of our products, resulting in harm to our reputation and businessOur development of Internet and intranet applications depends on the stability, functionality and scalability of the infrastructure software of the underlying intranet, such as the infrastructure software produced by Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Microsoft and others. If we are unable to address weaknesses resulting from problems in the infrastructure software such that our software products do not meet customer needs or expectations, our reputation, and consequently, our business, may be significantly harmed.Risks associated with the evolving use of the Internet, including changing standards, competition and regulation and associated compliance efforts, may adversely impact our businessThe use of the Internet as a vehicle for electronic data interchange (EDI) and related services continues to raise numerous issues, including those relating to reliability, data security, data integrity and rapidly evolving standards. New competitors, including media, software vendors and telecommunications companies, offer products and services that utilize the Internet in competition with our products and services, which may be less expensive or process transactions and data faster and more efficiently. Internet-based commerce is subject to increasing regulation by Canadian, U.S. federal and state and foreign governments, including in the areas of data privacy and breaches and taxation. Although we believe that the Internet will continue to provide opportunities to expand the use of our products and services, we cannot guarantee that our efforts to capitalize on these opportunities will be successful or that increased usage of the Internet for business integration products and services, increased competition or heightened regulation will not adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.Business disruptions, including those arising from disasters, pandemics or catastrophic events, may adversely affect our operationsOur business and operations are highly automated, and a disruption or failure of our systems may delay our ability to complete sales and to provide services. Business disruptions can be caused by several factors, including climate change, natural disasters, global health pandemics, terrorist attacks, power loss, telecommunications and system failures, computer viruses, physical attacks and cyber-attacks. A major disaster or other catastrophic event that results in the destruction or disruption of any of our critical business or information technology systems, including our cloud services, could severely affect our ability to conduct normal business operations. We operate data centers in various locations around the world and although we have redundancy capability built into our disaster recovery plan, we cannot ensure that our systems and data centers will remain fully operational during and immediately after a disaster or disruption. We also rely on third parties that provide critical services in our operations and despite our diligence around their disaster recovery processes, we cannot provide assurances as to whether these third-party service providers can maintain operations during a disaster or disruption. Global climate change may also aggravate natural disasters and increase severe weather events that affect our business operations, thereby compelling us to build additional resiliency in order to mitigate their impact. Further, in the event of any future global health pandemic, certain measures or restrictions may be imposed or recommended by governments, public institutions and other organizations, which could disrupt economic activity and result in reduced commercial and consumer confidence and spending, increased unemployment, closure or restricted operating conditions for businesses, inflation, volatility in the global economy, instability in the credit and financial markets, labour shortages and disruption in supply chains. Any business disruption could negatively affect our business, operating results or financial condition.Unauthorized disclosures, cyber-attacks, breaches of data security and other information technology risks may adversely affect our operationsMost of the jurisdictions in which we operate have laws and regulations relating to data privacy, security and protection of information. We have certain measures to protect our information systems against unauthorized access and disclosure of personal information and of our confidential information and confidential information belonging to our customers. We have policies and procedures in place dealing with data security and records retention. These measures and policies may change over time as laws and regulations regarding data privacy, security and protection of information change. However, there is no assurance that the security measures we have put in place will be effective in every case, and our response process to incidents may not be adequate, may fail to accurately assess the severity of an incident, may not be fast enough to prevent or limit harm, or may fail to sufficiently remediate an incident. Failures and breaches in security could result in a negative impact for us and for our customers, adversely affecting our and our customers’ businesses, assets, revenues, brands and reputations, disrupting our operations and resulting in penalties, fines, litigation, regulatory proceedings, regulatory investigations, increase insurance premiums, remediation efforts, indemnification expenditures, reputational harm, negative publicity, lost revenues and/or other potential liabilities, in each case depending on the nature of the information disclosed. Security breaches could also affect our relations with our customers, damage our reputation and harm our ability to keep existing customers and to attract new customers. Some jurisdictions, including all U.S. states and the European Union (EU), have enacted laws requiring companies to notify individuals of data security breaches involving certain types of personal data, and in some cases our agreements with certain customers require us to notify them in the event of a data security incident. These circumstances could also result in adverse impact on the market price of our Common Shares. These risks to our business may increase as we expand the number of web-based and cloud-based products, systems and solutions we offer and as we increase the number of countries in which we operate.In particular, we are increasingly relying on virtual environments and communications systems, which have been in recent years and may be in the future subjected to third-party vulnerabilities and security risks of increasing frequency, scope and potential harm. Malicious hackers may attempt to gain access to our network or data centers; steal proprietary information related to our business, products, systems, solutions, employees and customers; interrupt our systems and services or those of our customers or others; or attempt to exploit any vulnerabilities in our products, systems or solutions, and such acts may go undetected. Also, the development and proliferation of specific AI applications and other machine learning technologies, alongside related technological innovations, may increase our exposure to cyber-attacks and other cybersecurity risks by potentially enhancing the capabilities of third parties to breach our systems. Although we monitor our networks and continue to enhance our security protections, hackers are increasingly more sophisticated and aggressive and change tactics frequently, and our efforts may be inadequate to prevent or mitigate all incidents of data breach or theft. A series of issues may also be determined to be material at a later date in the aggregate, even if they may not be material individually at the time of their occurrence.In addition, if data security is compromised, this could materially and adversely affect our operating results given that we have customers that use our systems to store and exchange large volumes of proprietary and confidential information and the security and reliability of our services are of significant importance to these customers. We have experienced attempts by third parties to identify and exploit product and services vulnerabilities, penetrate or bypass our security measures and gain unauthorized access to our or our customers’ or service providers’ cloud offerings and other products, systems or solutions. We may experience future security issues, whether due to human error or misconduct, system errors or vulnerabilities in our or our third-party service providers’ products, systems or solutions. If our products, systems or solutions, or the products, systems or solutions of third-party service providers on whom we rely or may rely in the future, are attacked or accessed by unauthorized parties, it could lead to major disruption or denial of service and access to or loss, modification or theft of our and our customers’ data, which may require us to spend material financial or other resources on correcting the breach and indemnifying the relevant parties and/or on litigation, regulatory investigations, regulatory proceedings, increased insurance premiums, lost revenues, penalties, reputational harm, negative publicity, fines and/or other potential liabilities. If third-party service providers fail to implement adequate data security practices or otherwise suffer a security breach, our or our customer’s data may be improperly accessed, disclosed, used or otherwise lost, which could lead to reputational, business, operating and financial harms. Our efforts to protect against cyber-attacks and data breaches, including increased risks associated with work from home measures, may not be sufficient to prevent or mitigate such incidents, which could have material adverse effects on our reputation, business, operating results and financial condition.Our success depends on our relationships with strategic partners, distributors and third-party service providers and any reduction in the sales efforts by distributors, cooperative efforts from our partners or service from third party providers could materially impact our revenuesWe rely on close cooperation with strategic partners for sales and software product development as well as for the optimization of opportunities that arise in our competitive environment. A portion of our license revenues is derived from the licensing of our software products through third parties. Also, a portion of our service revenues may be impacted by the level of service provided by third party service providers relating to Internet, telecommunications and power services. Our success will depend, in part, upon our ability to maintain access to and grow existing channels of distribution and to gain access to new channels if and when they develop. We may not be able to retain a sufficient number of our existing distributors or develop a sufficient number of future distributors. Distributors may also give higher priority to the licensing or sale of software products and services other than ours (which could include competitors’ products and services) or may not devote sufficient resources to marketing our software products and services. A reduction in strategic partner cooperation or sales efforts, a decline in the number of distributors, a decision by our distributors to discontinue the licensing of our software products or a decline or disruption in third party services could cause users and the general public to perceive our software products and services as inferior and could materially reduce our revenues. In addition, our financial results could be materially adversely affected if the financial condition of our distributors or third-party service providers were to weaken. Some of our distributors and third-party service providers may have insufficient financial resources and may not be able to withstand changes in business conditions, including economic weakness, industry consolidation and market trends.The loss of licenses to resell or use third-party software or the lack of support or enhancement of such software could adversely affect our businessWe currently depend upon a limited number of third-party software products. If such software products were not available, we might experience delays or increased costs in the development of our own software products. For a limited number of our product modules, we rely on software products that we license from third parties, including software that is integrated with internally developed software and which is used in our products to perform key functions. The loss by us of the license to use, or the inability by licensors to support, maintain or enhance any such software, could result in increased costs, lost revenues or delays until equivalent software is internally developed or licensed from another third party and integrated with our software. Such increased costs, lost revenues or delays could adversely affect our business. For example, with our acquisition of Zix, we extended our partnership with Microsoft by becoming one of their authorized Cloud Solutions Providers in North America. If our key partners were to terminate our relationship, make an adverse change in their reseller program, change their product offerings or experience a major cyber-attack or similar event, it could reduce our revenues and adversely affect our business.Current and future competitors could have a significant impact on our ability to generate future revenues and profitsThe markets for our software products and services are intensely competitive and are subject to rapid technological change and other pressures created by changes in our industry. The convergence of many technologies has resulted in unforeseen competitors arising from companies that were traditionally not viewed as threats to our market position. We expect competition to increase and intensify in the future as the pace of technological change and adaptation quickens and as additional companies enter our markets, including those competitors who offer solutions similar to ours, but offer it through a different form of delivery. Numerous releases of competitive products have occurred in recent history and are expected to continue in the future. We may not be able to compete effectively with current competitors and potential entrants into our marketplace. We could lose market share if our current or prospective competitors: (i) develop technologies that are perceived to be substantially equivalent or superior to our technologies; (ii) introduce new competitive products or services; (iii) add new functionality to existing products and services, including through new and emerging AI applications; (iv) acquire competitive products and services; (v) reduce prices; or (vi) form strategic alliances or cooperative relationships with other companies. If other businesses were to engage in aggressive pricing policies with respect to competing products, or if the dynamics in our marketplace resulted in increasing bargaining power by the consumers of our software products and services, we would need to lower the prices we charge for the products and services we offer. This could result in lower revenues or reduced margins, either of which may materially adversely affect our business and operating results. Moreover, our competitors may affect our business by entering into exclusive arrangements with our existing or potential customers, distributors or third-party service providers. Additionally, if prospective consumers choose methods of information management delivery different from that which we offer, our business and operating results could also be materially adversely affected.The length of our sales cycle can fluctuate significantly which could result in significant fluctuations in revenues being recognized from quarter to quarterThe decision by a customer to license our software products or purchase our services often involves a comprehensive implementation process across the customer’s network or networks. As a result, the licensing and implementation of our software products and any related services may entail a significant commitment of resources by prospective customers, accompanied by the attendant risks and delays frequently associated with significant technology implementation projects. Given the significant investment and commitment of resources required by an organization to implement our software products, our sales cycle may be longer compared to other companies within our own industry, as well as companies in other industries. Also, because of changes in customer spending habits, it may be difficult for us to budget, forecast and allocate our resources properly. In weak economic environments, such as a recession or slowdown, it is not uncommon to see reduced information technology spending. If a customer’s decision to license our software or purchase our services is delayed or if the implementation of these software products takes longer than originally anticipated, the date on which we may recognize revenues from these licenses or sales would be delayed. Such delays and fluctuations could cause our revenues to be lower than expected in a particular period and we may not be able to adjust our costs quickly enough to offset such lower revenues, potentially negatively impacting our business, operating results and financial condition.Our existing customers might cancel contracts with us, fail to renew contracts on their renewal dates and/or fail to purchase additional services and products, and we may be unable to attract new customers, which could adversely affect our operating resultsWe depend on our installed customer base for a significant portion of our revenues. We have significant contracts with our license customers for ongoing support and maintenance, as well as significant service contracts that provide recurring services revenues to us. In addition, our installed customer base has historically generated additional new license and services revenues for us. Service contracts are generally renewable at a customer’s option and/or subject to cancellation rights, and there are generally no mandatory payment obligations or obligations to license additional software or subscribe for additional services. Factors influencing such contract terminations and failure to purchase additional services or products could include changes in the financial circumstances of our customers, including as a result of any potential recession, dissatisfaction with our products or services, our retirement or lack of support for our legacy products and services, our customers selecting or building alternate technologies to replace our products or services, the cost of our products and services as compared to the cost of products and services offered by our competitors, acceptance of future price increases by us, including due to inflationary pressures, our ability to attract, hire and maintain qualified personnel to meet customer needs, consolidating activities in the market, changes in our customers’ business or in regulation impacting our customers’ business that may no longer necessitate the use of our products or services, general economic or market conditions, or other reasons. Further, our customers could delay or terminate implementations or use of our services and products or be reluctant to migrate to new products. Such customers will not generate the revenues we may have expected within the anticipated timelines, or at all, and may be less likely to invest in additional services or products from us in the future. We may not be able to adjust our expense levels quickly enough to account for any such revenue losses.Consolidation in the industry, particularly by large, well-capitalized companies, could place pressure on our operating margins which could, in turn, have a material adverse effect on our businessAcquisitions by large, well-capitalized technology companies have changed the marketplace for our software products and services by replacing competitors that are comparable in size to our Company with companies that have more resources at their disposal to compete with us in the marketplace. In addition, other large corporations with considerable financial resources either have products and/or services that compete with our software products and services or have the ability to encroach on our competitive position within our marketplace. These companies have considerable financial resources, channel influence and broad geographic reach; thus, they can engage in competition with our software products and services on the basis of price, marketing, services or support. They also have the ability to introduce items that compete with our maturing software products and services. The threat posed by larger competitors and their ability to use their better economies of scale to sell competing products and/or services at a lower cost may materially reduce the profit margins we earn on the software products and services we provide to the marketplace. Any material reduction in our profit margin may have a material adverse effect on the operations or finances of our business, which could hinder our ability to raise capital in the public markets at opportune times for strategic acquisitions or for general operational purposes, which may then, in turn, prevent effective strategic growth or improved economies of scale or put us at a disadvantage to our better capitalized competitors.We may be unable to maintain or expand our base of SMB and consumer customers, which could adversely affect our anticipated future growth and operating resultsWith the acquisitions of Carbonite and Zix, we have expanded our presence in the SMB market as well as the consumer market. Expanding in this market may require substantial resources and increased marketing efforts, different to what we are accustomed to historically. If we are unable to market and sell our solutions to the SMB market and consumers with competitive pricing and in a cost-effective manner, it may harm our ability to grow our revenues and adversely affect our anticipated future growth and operating results. In addition, SMBs frequently have limited budgets and are more likely to be significantly affected by economic downturns than larger, more established companies. As such, SMBs may choose to spend funds on items other than our solutions, particularly during difficult economic times, which may hurt our projected revenues, business financial condition and results of operations.S. and Canadian federal, state, provincial and local governments and other foreign governments and their respective agencies, which may terminate most of these contracts at any time, without cause. There is increased pressure on governments and their agencies, both domestically and internationally, to reduce spending. Further, our U.S. federal government contracts are subject to the approval of appropriations made by the U.S. Congress to fund the expenditures under these contracts. Similarly, our contracts with U.S. state and local governments, Canadian federal, provincial and local governments and other foreign governments and their agencies are generally subject to government funding authorizations. Additionally, government contracts are generally subject to audits and investigations that could result in various civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, including termination of contracts, refund of a portion of fees received, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines and suspensions or debarment from future government business. These events may also impact our decision or limit our ability to conduct business in certain areas or with certain entities. To support certain of our cloud customers headquartered in the United States or allied countries that rely on our network to manage their global business (including their business in Russia), we have nonetheless allowed these customers to continue to use our services to the extent that it can be done in strict compliance with all applicable sanctions and export controls. However, as the situation continues and the regulatory environment further evolves, we may adjust our business practices as required by applicable rules and regulations. Our compliance with sanctions and export controls could impact the fulfillment of certain contracts with customers and partners doing business in these affected areas and future revenue streams from impacted parties and certain countries.The restructuring of certain of our operations may be ineffective, may adversely affect our business and our finances, and we may incur additional restructuring charges in connection with such actions We often undertake initiatives to restructure or streamline our operations, particularly during the period post-acquisition, such as the Micro Focus Acquisition Restructuring Plan (as defined below). We may incur costs associated with implementing a restructuring initiative beyond the amount contemplated when we first developed the initiative, and these increased costs may be substantial. Additionally, such costs would adversely impact our results of operations for the periods in which those adjustments are made. We will continue to evaluate our operations and may propose future restructuring actions as a result of changes in the marketplace, including the exit from less profitable operations, the decision to terminate products or services that are not valued by our customers or adjusting our workforce. Any failure to successfully execute these initiatives on a timely basis may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.For example, we have historically made strategic decisions to implement restructuring activities to streamline our operations, further reduce our real estate footprint around the world, or strategically align our workforce to support our growth and innovation plans. Such steps to reduce costs, and further changes we may make in the future, may negatively impact our business, operations and financial performance in a manner that is difficult to predict.

We must continue to manage our internal resources during periods of company growth, or our operating results could be adversely affectedThe information management market in which we compete continues to evolve at a rapid pace. We have grown significantly through acquisitions, including through the Micro Focus Acquisition, and, in conjunction with our plan to de-lever, may continue to review acquisition opportunities as a means of increasing the size and scope of our business. Our administrative infrastructure, systems, procedures and controls may not adequately support our operations. In addition, our management may not be able to achieve the rapid, effective execution of the product and business initiatives necessary to successfully implement our operational and competitive strategy. If we are unable to manage growth effectively, our operating results will likely suffer, which may, in turn, adversely affect our business.If we lose the services of our executive officers or other key employees or if we are not able to attract or retain top employees, our business could be significantly harmedOur performance is substantially dependent on the performance of our executive officers and key employees and there is a risk that we could lose their services. We do not maintain “key person” life insurance policies on any of our employees. Our success is also highly dependent on our continuing ability to identify, hire, train, retain and motivate highly qualified management, technical, sales and marketing personnel. In particular, the recruitment and retention of top research developers and experienced salespeople, particularly those with specialized knowledge, remains critical to our success, including providing consistent and uninterrupted service to our customers. Competition for such people is intense, substantial and continuous, and we may not be able to attract, integrate or retain highly qualified technical, sales or managerial personnel in the future. In our effort to attract and retain critical personnel, and in responding to inflationary wage pressure, we may experience increased compensation costs that are not offset by either improved productivity or higher prices for our software products or services. In addition, the loss of the services of any of our executive officers or other key employees could significantly harm our business, operating results and financial condition.Our compensation structure may hinder our efforts to attract and retain vital employeesA portion of our total compensation program for our executive officers and key personnel includes the award of options to buy our Common Shares. If the market price of our Common Shares performs poorly, such performance may adversely affect our ability to retain or attract critical personnel. In addition, any changes made to our stock option policies, or to any other of our compensation practices, which are made necessary by governmental regulations or competitive pressures, could adversely affect our ability to retain and motivate existing personnel and recruit new personnel. For example, any limit to total compensation that may be prescribed by the government or applicable regulatory authorities or any significant increases in personal income tax levels levied in countries where we have a significant operational presence may hurt our ability to attract or retain our executive officers or other employees whose efforts are vital to our success.

Additionally, payments under our long-term incentive plans (the details of which are described in Item 11 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K) are dependent to a significant extent upon the future performance of our Company both in absolute terms and in comparison to similarly situated companies. Any failure to achieve the targets set under our long-term incentive plan could significantly reduce or eliminate payments made under this plan, which may, in turn, materially and adversely affect our ability to retain the key personnel paid under this plan. We actively manage a broad range of CSR and ESG matters and annually publish a Corporate Citizenship Report regarding our policies and practices on a variety of CSR and ESG matters, including our: governance framework; community involvement; ED&I initiatives; employee health and safety; targets regarding greenhouse gas emissions, waste diversion and energy consumption; and practices relating to data privacy and information security. Our approach to and disclosure of CSR and ESG matters, for which we may have to contend with distinct, climate-related disclosure requirements in multiple jurisdictions, may result in increased attention from our shareholders, customers, employees, partners and suppliers, and such key relationships may not be satisfied with our approach to CSR and ESG as compared to their expectations and standards, which continue to evolve. Additionally, third-party organizations evaluate our approach to CSR and ESG, and an unfavorable rating on CSR or ESG from such organizations could lead to negative investor sentiment and reduced demand for our securities and damage to our reputation, as well as damage to our relationships with shareholders, customers, employees, partners and suppliers, which could have adverse effects on our reputation, business, operating results and financial condition. See “Changes in the market price of our Common Shares and credit ratings of our outstanding debt securities could lead to losses for shareholders and debt holders.” The Company has disclosed the OpenText Zero-In Initiative, where we have committed to: (1) science-based GHG emissions target of 50% reduction by 2030, and net zero GHG emissions by 2040; (2) zero waste from operations by 2030; and (3) by 2030, a majority ethnically diverse staff, with 50/50 representation in key roles and 40% women in leadership positions at all management levels. This could result in significant unexpected expenses, changes in our relationships with certain strategic partners, distributors and third-party service providers, loss of revenue and business disruption. We may not meet our goals in the manner or on such a timeline as initially contemplated, or at all, which would have adverse effects on our reputation, business, operating results and financial condition.Further, we may incur additional costs and require additional resources to be able to collect reliable emissions and waste data (in part, due to unavailable third-party data or inconsistent industry standards on the measurement of certain data), measure our performance against our targets and adjust our disclosure in line with market expectations. We may also incur additional compliance costs under evolving ESG-related regulations across the world, including in the EU, the U.S. and Canada. If we fail to meet our ESG targets or other ESG criteria set by third parties on a timely basis, or at all, or fail to respond to any perceived ESG concerns, or regulators disagree with our procedures or standards, our business activities, financial performance and reputation may be adversely affected. In addition, certain jurisdictions have implemented anti-greenwashing rules in order to limit the permissibility of certain sustainability-related disclosures. While the interpretation and application of such rules currently are unclear, any actual or perceived breach of such rules may subject us to significant penalties or reputational harm. OpenText systems, client, vendor and/or borrower data may be subject to additional risks presented by increased cyber-attacks and phishing activities targeting employees, vendors, third party service providers and counterparties in transactions, the possibility of attacks on OpenText systems or systems of employees working remotely as well as by decreased physical supervision. In addition, we may rely, in part, on third-party service providers to assist us in managing monitoring and otherwise carrying out aspects of our business and operations. Such events may result in a period of business disruption or reduced operations, which could materially affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. A flexible workforce may also subject us to other operational challenges and risks. Operating our business with both remote and in-person workers, or workers who work on flexible schedules, could have a negative impact on our corporate culture, decrease the ability of our employees to collaborate and communicate effectively, decrease innovation and productivity, or negatively affect employee morale. In addition, we have incurred costs related to reducing our real estate footprint around the world.For more information regarding the impact of business disruptions on our cybersecurity, see “Business disruptions, including those arising from disasters, pandemics or catastrophic events, may adversely affect our operations. As a result of the continually evolving marketplace in which we operate, we regularly evaluate acquisition opportunities and at any time may be in various stages of discussions with respect to such opportunities. We plan to continue to pursue acquisitions that complement our existing business, represent a strong strategic fit and are consistent with our overall growth strategy and disciplined financial management. We may also target future acquisitions to expand or add functionality and capabilities to our existing portfolio of solutions, as well as to add new solutions to our portfolio. We may also consider, from time to time, opportunities to engage in joint ventures or other business collaborations with third parties to address particular market segments. These activities create risks such as: (i) the need to integrate and manage the businesses and products acquired with our own business and products; (ii) additional demands on our resources, systems, procedures and controls; (iii) disruption of our ongoing business; and (iv) diversion of management’s attention from other business concerns. Moreover, these transactions could involve: (i) substantial investment of funds or financings by issuance of debt or equity or equity-related securities; (ii) substantial investment with respect to technology transfers and operational integration; and (iii) the acquisition or disposition of product lines or businesses. Also, such activities could result in charges and expenses and have the potential to either dilute the interests of existing shareholders or result in the issuance or assumption of debt, which could have a negative impact on the credit ratings of our outstanding debt securities or the market 28Table of Contentsprice of our Common Shares. Such acquisitions, investments, joint ventures or other business collaborations may involve significant commitments of financial and other resources of our Company. Any such activity may not be successful in generating revenues, income or other returns to us, and the resources committed to such activities will not be available to us for other purposes. In addition, while we conduct due diligence prior to consummating an acquisition, joint venture or business collaboration, such diligence may not identify all material issues associated with such activities and we may be exposed to additional risk due to such acquisition, joint venture or business collaboration. We may also experience unanticipated difficulties identifying suitable or attractive acquisition candidates that are available for purchase at reasonable prices. Moreover, if we are unable to access capital markets on acceptable terms or at all, we may not be able to consummate acquisitions, or may have to do so on the basis of a less than optimal capital structure. Our inability (i) to take advantage of growth opportunities for our business or for our products and services, or (ii) to address risks associated with acquisitions or investments in businesses, may negatively affect our operating results and financial condition. Additionally, any impairment of goodwill or other intangible assets acquired in an acquisition or in an investment, or charges associated with any acquisition or investment activity, may materially adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition which, in turn, may have a material adverse effect on the market price of our Common Shares or credit ratings of our outstanding debt securities. As we integrate our acquisitions, we may experience disruptions to our business and, if implemented ineffectively, it could restrict the realization of the full expected benefits. The failure to meet the challenges involved in the integration process and to realize the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions could cause an interruption of, or loss of momentum in, our operations and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.The anticipated benefits we expect from having consummated the Micro Focus Acquisition are, necessarily, based on projections and assumptions about our combined business with Micro Focus, which may not materialize as expected or which may prove to be inaccurate. See “We may be unable to successfully integrate acquired businesses or do so within the intended timeframes, which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and business prospects.”Additionally, we may not realize some or all of the anticipated benefits from the AMC Divestiture with respect to the anticipated performance of our remaining business, or the anticipated benefits from the repayment of certain outstanding indebtedness with the after-tax proceeds therefrom, and the divestiture may in fact adversely affect our business. Our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the divestiture will depend, to a large extent, on our ability to continue to focus on Cloud and AI opportunities within Information Management and to achieve more predictable growth in the absence of the divested business. Some of the anticipated benefits may not occur for a significant period of time. In addition, we may retain certain liabilities or obligations related to the AMC business that may arise under contract or law, or may have difficulties enforcing our rights, contractual or otherwise, against the buyer. The divestiture and the use of after-tax proceeds to repay outstanding indebtedness may not enhance long-term stockholder value as anticipated.Many of these factors will be outside of our control and any one of them could result in increased costs, including restructuring charges, decreases in the amount of expected revenues and diversion of management’s time and energy, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.We may be unable to successfully integrate acquired businesses or do so within the intended timeframes, which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and business prospectsOur ability to realize the anticipated benefits of acquired businesses, including the Micro Focus Acquisition, will depend, in part, on our ability to successfully and efficiently integrate acquired businesses and operations with our own. The integration of acquired businesses with our existing business will be complex, costly and time-consuming, and may result in additional demands on our resources, systems, procedures and controls, disruption of our ongoing business and diversion of management’s attention from other business concerns.As a result of these difficulties and risks, we may not accomplish the integration of acquired businesses smoothly, successfully or within our budgetary expectations and anticipated timetables, which may result in a failure to realize some or all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions.As a result of the Micro Focus Acquisition, the scope and size of our operations and business has substantially changed and will result in certain incremental risks to us. We cannot provide assurance that our expansion in scope and size will be successfulThe Micro Focus Acquisition has substantially expanded the scope and size of our business by adding substantial assets and operations to our previously existing business. The anticipated future growth of our business will impose significant added responsibilities on management, including the need to identify, recruit, train and integrate additional employees. Our ability to manage our business and growth will require us to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures. We may also encounter risks, costs and expenses associated with any undisclosed or other unanticipated liabilities and use more cash and other financial resources on integration and implementation activities than we expect. We may not be able to integrate the Micro Focus business into our existing operations on our anticipated timelines or realize the full expected economic benefits of the Micro Focus Acquisition, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.We incurred significant transaction costs in connection with the Micro Focus Acquisition, and could incur unanticipated costs during the integration of Micro Focus that could adversely affect our results of operationsWe incurred significant transaction costs in connection with the Micro Focus Acquisition, including payment of certain fees and expenses incurred in connection with the Micro Focus Acquisition and related transactions to obtain financing for the Micro Focus Acquisition, including entering into certain derivative transactions as further described herein. We have mark-to-market valuation adjustments for certain derivative transactions, based on foreign currency fluctuations. For more information on our mark-to-market derivatives, see Note 17 “Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities” and Note 23 “Other Income (Expense), Net” to our Consolidated Financial Statements and in Part II, Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Additional unanticipated costs may be incurred in the integration process. These could adversely affect our results of operations in the period in which such expenses are recorded or our cash flow in the period in which any related costs are actually paid.

For more information on our transaction costs, see Note 18 “Special Charges (Recoveries)” to our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.30Table of ContentsLoss of key personnel could impair the integration of acquired businesses, lead to loss of customers and a decline in revenues, or otherwise could have an adverse effect on our operationsOur success as a combined business with any prior or future acquired businesses will depend, in part, upon our ability to retain key employees, especially during the integration phase of the businesses. It is possible that the integration process could result in current and prospective employees of ours and the acquired business to experience uncertainty about their future roles with us, which could have an adverse effect on our ability to retain or recruit key managers and other employees. If, despite our retention and recruiting efforts, key employees depart, the loss of their services and their experience and knowledge regarding our business or an acquired business could have an adverse effect on our future operating results and the successful ongoing operation of our businesses.Businesses we acquire may have disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting, cybersecurity and compliance with data privacy laws that are weaker than or otherwise not in conformity with oursWe have a history of acquiring complementary businesses of varying size and organizational complexity and we may continue to engage in such acquisitions. Upon consummating an acquisition, we seek to implement our disclosure controls and procedures, our internal controls over financial reporting as well as procedures relating to cybersecurity and compliance with data privacy laws and regulations at the acquired company as promptly as possible. Depending upon the nature and scale of the business acquired, the implementation of our disclosure controls and procedures as well as the implementation of our internal controls over financial reporting at an acquired company may be a lengthy process and may divert our attention from other business operations. Our integration efforts may periodically expose deficiencies in the disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting as well as procedures relating to cybersecurity and compliance with data privacy laws and regulations of an acquired company that were not identified in our due diligence undertaken prior to consummating the acquisition; contractual protections intended to protect against any such deficiencies may not fully eliminate all related risks. If such deficiencies exist, we may not be in a position to comply with our periodic reporting requirements and, as a result, our business and financial condition may be materially harmed.

Refer to Item 9A “Controls and Procedures”, included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for details on our internal controls over financial reporting for recent acquisitions.The AMC Divestiture may result in disruptions in our remaining business and to relationships with customers and other business partnersThe impact of the AMC Divestiture could be disruptive to our remaining business. Specifically, the constraints on our business imposed by the terms of the AMC Divestiture, the limitations created by the sale of certain assets we have historically used in our business, and our obligation to provide certain transition services to the buyer following completion of the divestiture for up to 24 months, could have a continuing impact on the execution of our business strategy and our overall operating results. The divestiture could cause customers to delay or to defer decisions with respect to the AMC business or to end their relationships with us altogether, or otherwise limit our ability to compete for or perform certain contracts or services. Further, the divestiture could be disruptive to our employees, making the execution of business strategies more difficult, and could result in the turnover of key leaders or other personnel. Any of the foregoing could adversely affect our remaining businesses, the financial condition of such businesses and their results of operations and prospects. Various internal and external factors may have favorable or unfavorable effects on our future provision for income taxes, income taxes receivable and our effective income tax rate. These factors include, but are not limited to, changes in tax laws, regulations and/or rates, results of audits by tax authorities, changing interpretations of existing tax laws or regulations, changes in estimates of prior years’ items, the impact of transactions we complete, future levels of research and development spending, changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, transfer pricing adjustments, changes in the overall mix of income among the different jurisdictions in which we operate and changes in overall levels of income before taxes. For instance, the provision for income taxes from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which required capitalization and amortization of research and development costs starting in Fiscal 2023, has increased cash taxes. Furthermore, new accounting pronouncements or new interpretations of existing accounting pronouncements, and/or any internal restructuring initiatives we may implement from time to time to streamline our operations, can have a material impact on our effective income tax rate.Tax examinations are often complex as tax authorities may disagree with the treatment of items reported by us and our transfer pricing methodology based upon our limited risk distributor model, the result of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Although we believe our estimates are reasonable, the ultimate 31Table of Contentsoutcome with respect to the taxes we owe may differ from the amounts recorded in our financial statements, and this difference may materially affect our financial position and financial results in the period or periods for which such determination is made.The United Kingdom (UK) tax authorities have challenged certain historic tax filing positions of Micro Focus. Based on Micro Focus’ assessment of the value of the underlying tax benefit under dispute, and as supported by external professional advice, it believed that it had no liability in respect of these matters and therefore no tax charge was recorded in current or previous periods. Although the Company, after closing of the Micro Focus Acquisition, believes that assessment is reasonable, no assurance can be made regarding the ultimate outcome of these matters.The Company is also subject to income taxes in numerous jurisdictions and significant judgment has been applied in determining its worldwide provision for income taxes, including historical Micro Focus matters related to the EU State Aid and UK tax authority challenge in respect of prior periods. Numerous countries have agreed to a statement in support of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development model rules that propose a global minimum tax rate of 15% for companies with revenue above €750 million, calculated on a country-by-country basis, and E.U. member states have agreed to implement the global minimum tax. Certain countries have enacted or are expected to enact legislation, with widespread implementation of a global minimum tax expected by 2025. We are unable to predict when and how such rules in various jurisdictions will be enacted into law; however, it is possible that the implementation of relevant legislation could impact our liability for taxes. Further, due to Micro Focus’ complex acquisitive history, we could become subject to additional tax audits in jurisdictions in which we have not historically been subject to examination. As a result, our worldwide provision for income taxes and any ultimate tax liability may differ from the amounts initially recorded and such differences could have an adverse effect on the combined company’s financial condition and results of operations.

For further details on certain tax matters relating to the Company see Note 14 “Guarantees and Contingencies” and Note 15 “Income Taxes” to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.As part of the ongoing audit of our Canadian tax returns by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), we have received notices of, and are appealing, reassessments for Fiscal 2012, Fiscal 2013, Fiscal 2014, Fiscal 2015 and Fiscal 2016, and the CRA has audited Fiscal 2017, Fiscal 2018 and Fiscal 2019. An adverse outcome of these ongoing audits could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operationsAs part of its ongoing audit of our Canadian tax returns, the CRA has disputed our transfer pricing methodology used for certain intercompany transactions with our international subsidiaries and has issued notices of reassessment for Fiscal 2012, Fiscal 2013, Fiscal 2014, Fiscal 2015 and Fiscal 2016. Assuming the utilization of available tax attributes (further described below), we estimate our potential aggregate liability, as of June 30, 2024, in connection with the CRA’s reassessments for Fiscal 2012, Fiscal 2013, Fiscal 2014, Fiscal 2015 and Fiscal 2016, to be limited to penalties, interest and provincial taxes that may be due of approximately $80 million. As of June 30, 2024, we have provisionally paid approximately $33 million in order to fully preserve our rights to object to the CRA’s audit positions, being the minimum payment required under Canadian legislation while the matter is in dispute. This amount is recorded within Long-term income taxes recoverable on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of June 30, 2024.The notices of reassessment for Fiscal 2012, Fiscal 2013, Fiscal 2014, Fiscal 2015 and Fiscal 2016 would, as drafted, increase our taxable income by approximately $90 million to $100 million for each of those years, as well as impose a 10% penalty on the proposed adjustment to income. Audits by the CRA of our tax returns for fiscal years prior to Fiscal 2012 have been completed with no reassessment of our income tax liability.We strongly disagree with the CRA's positions and believe the reassessments of Fiscal 2012, Fiscal 2013, Fiscal 2014, Fiscal 2015 and Fiscal 2016 (including any penalties) are without merit, and we are continuing to contest these reassessments. On June 30, 2022, we filed a notice of appeal with the Tax Court of Canada seeking to reverse all such reassessments (including penalties) in full and the customary court process is ongoing.Even if we are unsuccessful in challenging the CRA's reassessments to increase our taxable income for Fiscal 2012, Fiscal 2013, Fiscal 2014, Fiscal 2015 and Fiscal 2016, we have elective deductions available for those years (including carry-backs from later years) that would offset such increased amounts so that no additional cash tax would be payable, exclusive of any assessed penalties and interest, as described above.

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